Q&A Session 3: Roast’d Coffee

Q&A Session 3: Roast’d Coffee

We’re really excited to bring you Q&A Session 3: Roast’d Coffee. Coffee shops are a dime a dozen, but mobile coffee vans (specifically GOOD mobile coffee vans) are pretty rare to find these days. So I guess we had to import some Australians to do it right for us! Roast’d coffee can be found at farmers markets, film sets, festivals… well, all over the place really. Best to check out their Facebook page to find out where they are on a particular day, their Instagram feed for some great shots of their setup and their website for more info.

Who are you and where are you from?

We are Paul and Tom from Melbourne, Australia. We moved to Canada 18 months ago, for a bit of an adventure on the other side of the world. Being from Melbourne, we are lovers of coffee, as you can find a great café on any street corner of Melbourne’s inner suburbs.

Tell us about Roast’d Coffee and what you do?

Roast’d Coffee is a completely self-sufficient mobile cafe which produces fresh specialty coffee for events, festivals, markets and TV and movie sets. We can show up anywhere, turn on our power and serve specialty coffee to the people of Vancouver from our friendly barista’s.

How long did it take to build your mobile coffee shop van?

The entire process of creating the van ended up taking being about 6 months. This included working with our builders, to design a workspace which would allow us to effectively work out of the van, acquiring the van, having it wrapped and organizing our equipment and stock. It was a process which had many highs and lows, where we learned many lessons along the way.

Judging by your Instagram posts you’re often working night shifts on film sets. What’s the most entertaining experience you’ve had on set?

We are lucky in the sense that we get to work and make coffee in many exciting situations with friendly cast and crew. We recently worked on the DC Legends of Tomorrow set, where we were able to make coffee for the cast and crew of the show while they were shooting, which included explosions going of in the background and lighting up the set! It was a very cool experience to be a part of.

What’s been the most fun event that you’ve worked at so far?

It would have to be the DC’s Legends of Tomorrow – there was so much happening on set, you couldn’t help getting caught up in what was going on. We also worked a farmers market in West Vancouver which was fun to be a part of and meeting the people walking the streets.

Do you have any plans to setup a permanent spot anywhere, similar to food trucks downtown?

We have ideas to have a more permanent café somewhere in the Vancouver area, however time is a factor for us with our VISA situation. We would like to offer a creative food menu, much like a breakfast or brunch café. There are plenty in Melbourne which we would like to model off, and we really think a Vancouver could do with a great breakfast and brunch café which offer healthy and creative dishes to complement a great cup of coffee.

Tell us a little about what coffee beans you use and what made you chose that roaster.

We use coffee beans from 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters who are based in Vancouver. They have been great friends for us in this market and have helped us in any way they can. When we first arrived in Vancouver, we found it hard to find a great latte or cappuccino like you would find in Melbourne. We then found their café located on Main Street, and were extremely happy to find a great cup of coffee just like you would find back home. That latte made us choose 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters.

What are some challenges you’ve faced opening a business in Vancouver?

There have been many challenges when opening a business in Vancouver. As we are not permanent residents, we are not entitled to certain business loans or funding, so we’ve had to run off our own steam so to speak. As we were fairly new to the country, we didn’t have a line of credit which also didn’t help when setting up a business.

Tell us about a time you had a coffee that really stood out to you?

The coffee we first had at 49th Parallel Coffee Roasters on Main Street was one that obviously stood out to us. We also enjoy a great coffee at Revolver in Vancouver, they really take care when producing your cup of coffee and really concentrate on the art of the process.

If you could pick one person dead or alive, real or fictional, to have coffee with, who would it be and why

Elon Musk – We enjoy following such a great entrepreneur who is so creative and thinks outside the box. We love what he is doing great things for the planet in the sustainable energy market and would be a great person to sit down with, pick his brain and learn a lot from.

Thanks Paul and Tom, for taking the time to chat with us!

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The Vancouver Coffee Snob is the highest rated coffee reviewer there has ever been on this site. Which makes sense really, as he's the only one posting on here.
His reviews should, at best, not be trusted and there's no substance to the rumor that he has a jar of instant coffee in his kitchen.
Ultimately his heart is in the right place. Physically that is... he's actually a bit of imbecile in person.